Changes
by malko050987
Summary: Halloween has always brought changes to Harry's life. What will he do when, in his seventh year, he faces the biggest change yet? HarryTonks, Femslash, Genderbending, Short, Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Changes**

_by malko050987_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter and no profit is made from this._

**A/N: **_Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for betaing this for me. Very much appreciated, Luna. HBP is ignored here. Wrote this fic when I became frustrated at the lack of H/T fics. I am working on I Want Out, but will only post when it's complete. I do not have an estimate of when that will be. The same applies to Escape, although I might have to re-write parts of that. DH might turn me off the HP fandom, but if HBP didn't' do it, I doubt DH will._

**Summary: **_Halloween has never been a regular holiday for Harry. The Halloween in his seventh year is no exception. Harry/Tonks, gender-bending, femslash._

**Warning: **_**Gender-Bending: **__This fic will have a male being turned into a female. If such things are not what you prefer to read, go away now. __**Femslash: **__This fic will feature a femslash relationship, a relationship between two females. Also mentions of slash._

**Chapter One – All Hallows Eve**

Hermione smiled gratefully at her boyfriend when he took her bulging book bag and slung it over his shoulder. Taking his hand, she pulled him towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Why do you need so many books?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Well, I want to finish all the homework I have, so I don't have anything to do tomorrow evening, since it's Halloween and all," she explained. "Plus, if I know them right, Harry and Ron will need at least a few of those books, and then there's a couple I took because they seemed interesting..."

"You're nutters. You know that, right?" he told her, fighting a smile as she turned to him and pouted – a very effective ploy to make him kiss her, which he did.

They were interrupted a few minutes after that, by a red-faced, panting Ron. "Hermione," gasp, "come," pant, "to tower," wheeze, "Harry said." With that, he let himself fall to the floor, catching his breath.

"Ron, in English please," Dean said. He was a bit uncomfortable around Ron since he was Hermione's ex-boyfriend. Ron had been friendly to him though, which had been a relief. It had been even more of a relief that Harry was friendly to him.

Dean had been there at the Final Battle, as it was called by the Wizarding world. In reality, it had been an outing of the DA, to celebrate the Halloween in his sixth year. Harry had somehow rented a house in Hogsmeade, and with the help of the DA members who had graduated, prepared a party.

Voldemort and almost all his Death Eaters had decided to attack Hogsmeade that night. And the entire world had seen why exactly angering Harry was suicidal. Ginny Weasley had been placed under the Imperio at the beginning of the battle, and Voldemort tried to possess her again. Since at the time she and Harry were dating, Voldemort had thought it would break Harry's spirit to see her controlled and used by him and his minions.

Harry had literally _exploded_, sending curse after curse and Voldemort. In five minutes, Voldemort was dead, and the Death Eaters were rolling on the ground, clutching their arms. Then the wizards from Hogsmeade had their own revenge. None of the Death Eaters survived the night, except for Snape, who had been revealed for a spy in the summer before that.

Hermione squeezed his hand and started pulling him down the corridor, following Ron.

"Harry has been casting lots of spells around his bed all evening," the redhead said, obviously amused.

"Why? What spells?" Hermione asked.

"Well, mostly warning and protection wards. I think he was looking up the Fidelius when I left to get you."

"But why does he need me? Harry's better than I am at wards," she said. When it came to wards or protection magic, Harry was the best the world had seen in centuries. He even worked with the Hogwarts staff on the castle wards every month. The wards were positively humming these days.

"I'm not sure, he just told me to get you as fast as possible," Ron shrugged.

They quickly arrived at the Tower, and Hermione motioned Dean to drop her books on her usual table. She was about to head to the seventh years boys' dorm when Harry ran downstairs. He ran to her, grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the staircase to the girls' dorms.

"Hey, Hermione, how good to see you!" he exclaimed. "I need your help with a ritual, can you get Ginny as well? I'll go get Padma and -"

Hermione wrenched her arm free. "RITUAL?!" she yelled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous those are?" she hissed, pointing him towards the nearest couch.

He walked there, head down. Sitting next to him, she took his hand, which made him turn his eyes to her. "What ritual do you want to perform, Harry? And what's with the wards you've been casting?"

"Well," he began earnestly, "it's the Protection Ritual. That's why I need you and the rest of the girls. Then with that ritual as well as the wards, I should be safe for the next few days."

Hermione rubbed her temples. "The Protection Ritual? Why would you need such a powerful druidic ritual, Harry?" The ritual was easily the most powerful ritual the Druids had come up with. Unfortunately, like many of the druidic rituals, it had very strict requirements for it to work.

"Because it's Halloween," Harry replied.

"Halloween? What's Halloween got to do with it?"

With a frown on his face, Harry knocked on her forehead, the way someone would knock on a door. "Hermione? Anybody home? It's _Halloween! _Something always happens on Halloween, and I usually get hurt during it."

She stared at him for a full minute before starting snorting. "Harry, Voldemort is gone. So are almost all of his followers. Nothing bad will happen to you tonight." At his downcast expression, she sighed and continued. "Okay, I'll help you with some wards, but I am NOT doing that ritual. The requirements are just silly."

He hugged her, exclaiming, "Thanks, you're the best!"

--

Half an hour later, Hermione kissed Dean goodnight and waited for her female dorm mates to say goodbye to their own boyfriends before heading up. As she waited, she looked through the tower, and something struck her. Harry was alone.

She had Dean, Ron had Lavender, Seamus had Parvati, Neville had Ginny, Colin had Romilda – everybody had somebody, except for Harry. Although he had dated her for a few months during his sixth year. He had dated Ginny as well, for a few weeks. Padma had been his girlfriend for a month, before they decided that they were much better as friends. She knew for a fact that he had also dated a Slytherin during this summer, but nobody knew who it was, and Harry wasn't telling.

He was just standing at the bottom of the boys' staircase, looking at the room with longing. The expression was very familiar to her, as if she had seen it on someone else, but she couldn't recall who.

With a decisive nod, she went to him and gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Things will be fine, Harry. We will finish school and go on with our lives. No more Dark Lords and evil bigots."

He smiled at her gratefully. "I hope so. I very much hope so."

After squeezing him one last time, Hermione followed her friends up to their room. Sleep came easily, since she had exhausted herself by casting wards.

--

The following day passed normally, if one ignored Harry's newfound paranoia. Hermione couldn't wait for Halloween to pass so Harry returned to his regular self.

As the feast drew to an end, Harry started relaxing a bit, to everyone's relief. They went to the common room as a group, taking their usual seats.

"Well, I'm off to sleep," Harry said at a bit past ten, stretching. "I overdid it a bit on the wards yesterday."

Among various goodnight calls, he went to his bed, falling asleep in minutes.

--

Hermione sleepily waved a hand at her alarm clock, silencing it. After a minute of luxuriating in the heat and comfort of her bed, she got out, wrapping a dressing gown around her shoulders and heading for the girl's bathroom. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes on the way, thinking of the shower that waited for her.

She was glad that she had gotten used to waking up early, much earlier than any of her classmates. She liked having silence in the morning, and she preferred long showers.

Her plans were ruined the moment she entered the bathroom. Somebody was there already. At first glance, Hermione's sleepy mind thought it was Parvati. As she blinked some sleep away, she realized that it wasn't. She was wearing an emerald T-shirt and a pair of men's boxers decorated with snitches, the sort she had seen on Harry while they'd been dating. She also realized that the girl was cursing with a fluency that made her blush.

"Erm... excuse me?" she said hesitantly.

The girl whirled around and Hermione gasped.

"I told you something bad was going to happen," the girl said.

"Ha-Harry?"

"The one and only," the girl said with a sigh, dropping to the floor and leaning her head against the tiled wall. Hermione, still attempting to wrap her mind around the fact that Harry had been turned into a girl, took the opportunity to study Harry's new body.

The legs were toned and finely muscled, the way Harry's had been, but definitely female. Hermione blushed slightly as she stared at Harry's torso. His new assets fit his new body perfectly. It seemed that Harry had been turned into the equivalent of what his male body had been. And according to Witch Weekly and most of the female population of the Wizarding world, his body had been perfect.

His hair, usually short and untidy, now reached mid-back, and Hermione still saw the trademark Potter rebellion in it. It curled slightly, and a strand fell in Harry's face. There had been modifications to his face as well; the nose was smaller, more delicate, and the cheekbones had been reshaped. His eyes were still in the almond-shape that his mother had, and their color seemed even more powerful, something Hermione had thought impossible.

"Stupid bloody Halloween," Harry said with a bitter laugh. Hermione chuckled nervously.

She suddenly remembered something. "Harry!"

"Hmm?"

"How did you get in here?" she questioned. The bathroom was on the same staircase that the girls' dorms were, and had alarms and safeguards that made the ones on the staircase look childish.

"I walked," he said, with a small grin that struck Hermione as particularly pretty. _'The boys will be all over her,'_ she thought, forgetting for a second that it was Harry, the boy that she had first slept with, the boy she loved with all her heart. It was, she realized, the way Ginny and Padma felt about him as well. _'And the Slytherin girl, I bet,'_ she thought. They all loved Harry, but they had all realized that they didn't have what it took to keep him for all their lives. So now they were very good friends, and the girls were all dating.

She knew that Harry cared for all their boyfriends, and that he was happy that they were happy. But so far, Hermione knew of nobody who could make Harry happy. Nobody she had met at Hogwarts had the necessary fire to keep him interested. She dearly hoped that once he finished Hogwarts he could find somebody good for him.

Of course, provided that he managed to get out of whatever had happened to him.

"What do you mean, you walked?" she questioned sharply. As a very distant branch of the Gryffindor family tree, Harry had several privileges at Hogwarts that only a few people shared. However, the gender-restricted areas did not fall under that category.

He, or rather she, shrugged before answering. "I couldn't enter the boys' bathroom, so I rushed here. The alarms left me alone," she explained. Pleading emerald eyes turned to Hermione. "What's wrong with me, Hermione? What magic can do this? How do I change myself back?"

She could clearly see that Harry was afraid, and it scared her. It had been a very long time since Harry had been scared of something that wasn't related to Voldemort. And even longer since he was scared for himself, and not other people.

She shuffled forward and put her arms around Harry, her cheeks pinking at the way his new body felt through the thin clothes they both wore. "It's going to be fine, Harry. Get ready for the day and we'll go to McGonagall first chance we have. This has to be some sort of transfiguration, and she'll be able to fix it."

She felt Harry nod, and she stood, heading for a sink. She didn't have time for a shower now, especially with Harry's emergency. She quickly washed her face and waved her wand at her hair to brush it, turning to leave so she could get dressed.

"H-Hermione?" Harry was sitting there looking extremely embarrassed. _'She looks cute when she blushes,_'Hermione mused.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Doyouthinkyoucanlendmeatightt-shirt?"

It took her a second to puzzle out what his rush of words had meant, but she smiled at him and nodded. Of course. He only had T-shirts that were loose, and with the changes in his torso, it would just attract stares. "Wait here, I'll bring you a camisole. It should be enough."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said giving her a brief hug.

She ran to her room, quickly got dressed and left, taking one of her camisoles with her. She handed it to a still blushing Harry, squeaking and turning around when he just took of his T-shirt and struggled to put on the camisole. She listened to the rustle of fabric for a minute before a frustrated huff was heard.

"Merlin, these are much easier to take off." After a brief pause, Harry's voice came again. "Hermione, can you help me?"

She turned and made quick work of adjusting Harry's camisole, absently noting that he blushed full body, and that he was tanned, giving his skin a light gold color.

"There," she said when she was done. Harry smiled gratefully at her as he put the t-shirt over the camisole.

They climbed down to the common room, and Harry went to get dressed in some of his clothes. They rushed to McGonagall's office, hoping to fix it before all the school saw Harry-the-girl.

"Ms. Granger, what is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall questioned as she opened the door of her office. She had obviously been interrupted while she was getting ready for the day, as her hair was loose, but she was in her usual teaching robes.

"It's me, Professor," Harry said.

McGonagall's eyes went wide as she looked at the girl, recognizing Harry almost instantly. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "Mr. Potter," she said sharply, "gender switch potions and spells are highly illegal and warrant an expulsion. I really thought better of you, Mr. Potter."

"I didn't use any of those, Professor!" Harry protested. "I just..." he trailed off. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

With a sniff, the strict Professor motioned them inside her office, pointing to a couple of seats. "Now, explain."

"I went to sleep at about ten last night, and woke up like this at six in the morning. I thought it was a prank at first, but nothing could have gotten past the wards set around my bed," Harry said. "I promise that I didn't use any of the gender switch spells or potions."

"Besides," Hermione interjected, "None of those can get past the girls' bathroom alarms. And they all make you look like a certain person, not like a female version of yourself."

The Professor nodded. "That is true, Ms. Granger."

"Can you reverse it, Professor?" Harry pleaded.

"If it is a Transfiguration of some sort, it should be reversible. If not by me, then the Headmaster is surely able to undo it." After a moment in which McGonagall retrieved her wand, she motioned for Harry to stand.

"I shall now check for any transfigurations performed on you in the past twenty-four hours. It might feel a bit uncomfortable."

Harry nodded and braced himself. The pale yellow spell hit him, and he felt as if it touched him all over. A second later, the spell ended. McGonagall frowned and cast another one. For the next hour, she cast spell after spell at him, frown growing with each one.

"Mr. Potter, according to these spells, no Transfiguration has been performed on you. You are also free of any appearance-altering magic. I don't now know a spell to check for potion-induced changes, although you are not under Polyjuice. "

Harry dropped in a chair. "What potion can do this?" he whispered.

"I haven't heard of any changing potions except for Polyjuice, but I'll go to the library and check, maybe there is something-"

"Ms. Granger, you should not waste your time with the library. The only potion that can change a wizard's appearance is the Polyjuice Potion. Perhaps the Headmaster can shed light on this mystery. Mr. Potter, you are excused from today's classes. Head to the Headmaster's office and wait for him there. A house-elf will bring you breakfast."

After Harry left, head bowed, McGonagall sighed. "Ms. Granger, please head to breakfast. I shall inform the Headmaster. I suggest you make Mr. Potter's friends aware of the fact that he has been excused from today's classes, but keep his recent changes silent."

"Yes Professor," Hermione said as she left.

--

The day passed impossibly slow for her. She kept wondering what was happening to Harry. She checked the library but not even the Restricted Section had anything that would do what had happened to Harry. She ate a small dinner and headed for the Headmaster's office, hoping to get some answers.

Halfway there, she was joined by Ginny and Padma, who were panting slightly after having run to catch up. All the school knew that Harry had been excused from classes, but only a few knew that he was with the Headmaster.

"What happened to Harry, Hermione?" Padma asked.

She sighed, debating what to say. Fortunately, Ginny saved her from answering. "It's probably something secret if we don't already know, right Hermione?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. Hopefully it will be already solved."

Padma nodded, restraining herself from asking more questions. As they got nearer to the office, they heard a voice muttering sweets and curses.

"Canary Creams! Ruddy old diabetic coot. Mars Bars! Lets just hope he trips on his beard and falls out the window. Fizzing Whizzbees! Maybe I'll make him eat a Dungbomb. Blood Pops! Bloody is what he'll be if he doesn't set a normal password."

Daphne Greengrass was interrupted in her mutterings by Hermione's voice. "Toffee."

The gargoyle sprang to the side and the four girls climbed up the moving steps. "If you tell anybody about this, I'll-"

"You'll nothing, because we won't tell," Ginny interrupted Daphne. She certainly understood why the girl didn't want it known that she had dated Harry. Slytherin House wasn't very happy with Harry, although most respected him or his power. The Greengrass family had a long-running feud with the Potters. It was still very much in force, and only exterminating one family could end it, something Harry's wasn't willing to do, and the Greengrass family couldn't. If her father heard that Daphne had been friendly to Harry, he'd probably disown her. And if he had any idea of what had actually happened, he was likely to kill her for just touching a Potter.

After an unsure glance, Daphne sighed and nodded. "I trust you. But only you four. Thank you."

As Hermione raised a hand to knock on the office door, the Headmaster's voice could be heard. "Please enter, Ms. Granger, Patil, Weasley and Greengrass."

The girls entered and glanced around the office briefly before running to the back, where Harry was. He was sitting in a chair, his posture screaming resignation. A few of the Headmaster's devices were arrayed around him, some of the floating in the air. All were active, either whirling, spinning of belching smoke of different colors.

"Hullo, girls," Harry said. Hermione heard two shrieks and a squeak as the other three saw Harry's new body. He flinched and waved his hand, creating a dense barrier between him and the rest of the office. "Hermione, can you explain?" he called from behind it.

Hermione sighed and turned to the others. "Let's get some chairs."

Her explanations and answering the questions that the girls had took almost a full hour, time in which Harry dropped the barrier and the Headmaster replaced some of the mysterious objects surrounding him. Fawkes made a brief appearance, singing a bit and boosting Harry's spirits up. The Headmaster said he was going to go for a few minutes to look for some books in the library.

Eventually, the girls got used to seeing Harry as he was, and they spent a few minutes quizzing Daphne and Harry on their relationship. Ginny was in the middle of announcing the first meeting of the "Harry took my virginity" club when the Headmaster returned and headed directly to the fireplace.

The five teens waited in silence as he had an unheard conversation before straightening.

"Harry, I'm afraid I have no news," he said, starting to pick up the various objects.

Harry nodded dejectedly. "I kinda figured that out a while ago," he said.

"I will keep looking for a way to change you back, but the magic shows that there is nothing to change. Most intriguing."

"I don't care how intriguing it is! I want my body back!" Harry shouted angrily, jumping to his – her? – feet.

Hermione absently noted that Harry's hair fluttered in an unseen wind.

The Headmaster sighed. "I apologize, Harry. Sometimes I let my curiosity get the best of me. I have called a contact in the Ministry to go to the Department of Mysteries and ask if them for a certain book. Hopefully it will have some answers."

Hermione's eyes glazed at the thought of what could be in that book.

Daphne started to say something when the door to the office burst open and a woman rushed in. "Headmaster, I hope you know that nobody but me will touch this book. I am breaking hundreds of rules just by allowing you to know of it. I hope it's-"

"Ms. Tonks, I assure you that I shall not impose."

The woman's eyes widened at the sight in the office. Her hair changed colors, betraying her confusion and anger. Then she caught sight of Harry, and it looked like a rainbow exploded on her.

"Harry!" she exclaimed jumping and throwing his arms around him, squeezing him tightly as her hair started inventing new colors. Hermione swore that she saw Tonks' ears wiggle.

"Erm, hullo, Tonks," Harry said, gently prying her hands off from him. She looked at him in confusion for a second before her eyes widened again. "Merlin! You just-"

"Turned into a girl, I know," Harry said.

"What? Oh. No, it's not that."

"Huh? Tonks, you're not making sense."

"Harry, you're a Metamorphmagus."

"What?!" five voices called while the Headmaster nodded.

"Perhaps we should get comfortable for this explanation," Dumbledore said.

A minute later they were all seating in comfortable chairs. "So let me get this straight," Harry said. "I'm a Metamorph. And that's why I turned into a girl last night? How do I change back?"

Tonks looked uncomfortable for a moment before sighing. "You can't. Changing your gender is impossible."

"Then how did he change into a girl?" Daphne asked.

Tonks sighed again. "What I'm going to tell you now will never leave this room. I'll want an Oath on that."

With some reluctance, everybody performed their oath, and Tonks launched in her explanation. "At one point, early in the life of the Metamorph, they go through a major change in their base body. Sometimes it's a growth spurt of a few inches. Other times is a change in the bone structure, like legs shortening a bit and the upper body lengthening. One Metamorph had a complete facial makeover, including the bones and everything."

She took a deep breathe before continuing. "A Metamorph can't change their bones. Ever. You can play with your skin and other soft tissue, and if you're very sure of yourself, you can make small changes in internal organs and such. But never your bones."

"Then why did I get changed into a girl?" Harry asked. "And why didn't I show any signs of being a Metamorph until now?"

"The major change I was speaking of happens when your Metamorph powers come into play. Until then, the only changes you can do are accidental, and no other Metamorph can recognize you. Once your power is released, you are recognized as one of us."

"So... me turning into a girl is that major change triggered by my Metamorph powers awakening?"

Tonks nodded and Harry muttered a curse. "Brilliant, just brilliant."

"I'll teach you to control it, Harry," Tonks said eagerly. "And think about it, you'll have a disguise always ready. You'll be able to go out without being mobbed."

He snorted. "That would be a plus."

"And while you're at it, teach Harry about the basic female things. He'll need to know them soon, I wager," Daphne said, smirking at Harry as everybody else started laughing. After glaring at them for a few seconds, he laughed as well, and his hair flashed red. Tonks clapped in delight.

"I'll have you trained in no time!" she exclaimed, pulling Harry to a pair of armchairs in a corner of the office.

The girls said their goodbyes and left, after being reminded not to say anything about Harry's recent change.


	2. Chapter 2

**Changes**

_by malko050987_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter and no profit is made from this._

**A/N: **_Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for betaing this for me. Very much appreciated, Luna. HBP is ignored here. _

**Summary: **_Halloween has never been a regular holiday for Harry. The Halloween in his seventh year is no exception. Harry/Tonks, gender-bending, femslash._

**Warning: **_**Gender-Bending: **__This fic will have a male being turned into a female. If such things are not what you prefer to read, go away now. __**Femslash: **__This fic will feature a femslash relationship, a relationship between two females. Also mentions of slash._

Chapter Two – Explanations and Training 

"Headmaster, if you could give us some privacy?" Tonks said after the girls left.

Dumbledore nodded. "I shall go and pester the elves for a late snack."

Tonks waited for a minute after the Headmaster had left before casting a few spells around them, enveloping both of them in a privacy sphere. After a couple more wards, she pulled a tiny book out of her pocket. Harry saw that it changed colors periodically.

"This, Harry," Tonks explained as she enlarged it, "is the book of the Metamorphmagi. In it is our history, abilities, a list of all living and dead Metamorphs, and it's a manual of sorts for the new Metamorph."

She gave the slim book to him, and he took it, feeling the cover change textures as it changed colors. Strangely, it comforted him somewhat. When he'd woken up in the body of a girl, he'd been calm, thinking it was a prank. After a few minutes and it hadn't worn off, he had started to panic. He had spent the day slowly becoming accustomed to his new body and to the idea of keeping it for the rest of his life.

"I want you to read the book," Tonks said, settling back in her armchair.

Harry looked at her for a moment before starting to read the book. The history wasn't very much, just a few names of famous Metamorphs going back a few thousand years. Then the book started to get a bit more interesting for him, as it presented information he hadn't seen elsewhere, when he'd looked it up for a Transfiguration project.

_Metamorphmagi are not made, they are born. A Metamorphmagus is a normal human being for the first few years of his life, until the _Change_ occurs. The _Change_ is an event that alters something in the body of the Metamorphmagi. It is different for each individual. Research has not yielded an answer or method to enable us to predict when the _Change_ occurs, or what shall be changed. _

He sighed as he read that paragraph. It seemed that he wouldn't be changing back to his former body anytime soon. After a few more pages, something else caught his attention.

_A Metamorphmagus should avoid from having children with a regular wizard or Muggle. Such children are highly sensitive to diseases and often die before reaching their first year of life. Regular intercourse will not harm the body of the partner, but siring children should be avoided. It is theorized that mating with a magical creature (such as a mermaid or full-veela or a vampire) will result in healthier children, but no proof exists to support this._

Harry read for a full two hours, comforted by the book changing constantly under his fingers, and Tonks' hand resting on his shoulder. At the end of the book, there was a page with "Britain" on top. The names "Nymphadora Slyph Tonks, 23" and "Harry James Potter, 17" were under it.

"If you tap the page with your wand, the page will show you all Metamorphs on the continent, and then in the world." Harry did so, and gaped at the list. There were only thirty names on it, spread evenly on the continents.

"Since I'm the closest one, I'll be teaching you how to control your powers. The information you got from the book is generalized, since everybody has a slightly different way of doing it."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Tonks."

"You're welcome, Harry," she said with a smile, he hair coloring pink. "Any other questions?"

"About this... children thing..." he trailed off. His biggest dream was to start a family, and now it had been taken from him.

Tonks sighed and sat one the arm of his armchair. "I know what you mean," she said. "It's true, though. Marie, the one who trained me, got pregnant once. Her baby died a few days after he was born. He looked perfectly normal, but, according to the healers, he had no immune system at all, so his body destroyed itself. There was nothing they could do for him."

Harry put his head in his hands, fighting back tears. A second later, Tonks' arms were around him, and he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

It took a while for his tears to stop, and for Tonks to talk him out of his sad mood, but two hours later he was relatively fine.

"When are you going to train me?" he asked.

"Well, the ideal thing would be for you to take your NEWTs and move in with me," Tonks said with a thoughtful look on her face.

Harry gaped at her for a full minute before understanding she was actually serious.

"I think you'll have to either miss a lot of school or repeat this year, Harry, I'm sorry."

"What? Why?" he asked, bewildered.

"Your magic is still adjusting to the new powers it has, and it will make spell work very random. Also, there are involuntary changes."

"Like my hair earlier?" he asked, feeling his long black hair.

"Yeah," Tonks said. "Except more dangerous, because you might change something internal and nobody would have any idea what to do to save you."

Harry nodded. "Can I do that? I mean, really change something inside me without knowing how?"

"Yeah. Powerful emotions can do that to you. And a large part of the training will have an emotional component. Added to your changes, it would make your temper very volatile."

Harry nodded again, thinking of the possible reactions of the male population of Hogwarts. The girls had been bad enough, but since he had dates for most of his sixth year, he'd been left alone, aside from the stares. Of course, dating was out of the question now. Even thinking of kissing a guy made him want to gag. He didn't have anything against Colin, who had dated guys as well as girls, but just didn't like the idea of _him_ kissing another guy. He'd tried it once, with Colin, at Ginny's urging, but it really wasn't his sort of thing.

_'There goes my life,' _he thought glumly.

"So I have to be around you all the time until I have full control over my powers?"

Tonks nodded. "Yep. There's a bit of Metamorph magic that will return you to base form in an instant if you lose control."

"That's good, I guess."

Silence fell on them again as he thought about his option. He could test out of Hogwarts, or come back and repeat the year next year, or just hope his training was quick enough that he could return after a bit and catch up. He doubted the last option would work, and didn't really fancy waiting a year before repeating this one. He was very good at practical magic, but he was already beginning to forget large parts of sixth year theory. If he had to wait a year, he'd be doomed, and there would be no Hermione to save him.

"I think I can do okay on the NEWTs,"he said after a while.

Tonks looked surprised at him. "You can? I mean, I know you're good and all, but the NEWTs are, well, the NEWTs."

He grinned at her, feeling cheerful for the first time since reading that book. "I studied a lot during the summer and my sixth year. I can ace Practical Transfiguration, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm okay at Herbology and Potions. I'm not that certain about the theory but I can get at least a passing grade there."

She stared at him for a bit before shaking her head. "Are you sure you want to do this? You can just come back next year and do it with no pressure."

"I'm sure. If I go out there like this, I'll be mobbed. I really don't feel like facing the school in this body. I get enough attention as it is." With a blush, he said, "Besides, Daphne's suggestion is good."

She grinned at him, feeling happy when he returned the grin. "Okay, I'll go to the Ministry to sort out your NEWTs and new home. You explain it to the Headmaster and maybe have him summon your friends so that you can say goodbye."

At his downcast expression, she put her hand on his arm. "Harry, I know it's hard. But they'll be able to visit on the holiday, and maybe we'll meet them in Hogsmeade in a weekend."

He brightened up a bit and they each left. Twenty minutes later, Harry's friends were gathered in the office, as well as Dumbledore and the Heads of House. Harry's hair changed colors wildly, only stopping when Tonks put a hand on his arm, and he returned to his normal form.

With difficulty, they convinced Harry to pose for a picture, so that they could leak the news of his change and have the world get used to it while he was gone. It was agreed that nobody would know where he was training, and Tonks said that her small apartment was unplottable and only a handful of people knew where it was.

With a sad smile, Harry and Tonks Flooed away from Hogwarts.

--

"Honey, I'm home!" Tonks yelled as they fell out of the Floo.

From his position under Tonks, Harry wondered who "Honey" was, as, last he'd heard, Remus and Tonks had broken up. A pop and short rush told him that Honey was a house-elf, and that she was particularly skilled at removing soot from clothing.

Tonks led him on a short tour of the apartment, leaving his trunk to be sorted by Honey. The apartment was small. There was the living room, where they had flooed in. A long corridor ran from one end to the other, connecting all the rooms. Right after the living room was the kitchen, then the bathroom, and finally the bedroom.

Tonks yawned as they entered the bedroom, and simply threw herself on the narrow bed with a sigh of relief. Harry chuckled at her antics and turned to go to the living room couch.

"Night, Tonks."

"Wait, Harry," she called, and he turned to face her, leaning against the door. At his raised eyebrow she sighed. "You need to be close to me, Harry."

He frowned for a moment, taking in the room. There was the narrow bed along the wall opposite the door, windows on the other two walls, a dresser and a nightstand. The walls were completely covered in posters of Muggle and wizarding bands, except for the space occupied by a full-length mirror.

"Erm, Tonks, I really don't think this room will have room for another bed. I could sleep on the floor tonight, but I don't fancy the thought of doing so for more than one night."

She sighed again. "I meant closer than that, Harry. We'll have to share a bed, and preferably be in contact all night."

"Oh." He started to say something, closed his mouth and turned. "I'll just go change, then."

While he was gone, Tonks changed as well, and made a quick trip to the bathroom. When she got back to her room, Harry was there, eyeing the bed. He was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of men's boxers, much like Tonks was dressed. She chuckled and prodded him towards the bed. "Just lay there and I'll get in next to you and we'll go to sleep. You know how that goes, yes?" she teased.

Harry stuck his tongue out at her as he flopped on the bed. "Just- never as a girl."

She slipped under the covers next to Harry and turned to face him, grabbing his hand under the covers. The narrow bed fit both of them, but it was a rather close fit. "Okay, first of all, just know that I'm not doing this because I want to get you in bed with me," she said cheekily. Harry just nodded, a bit wary of more news. "When I was little, I kept having this nightmare where I was running from a light, and I always woke up screaming. After the _Change_, I had that nightmare once, and I woke up screaming.

"I wasn't sharing the bed with my mentor at the time, since she was pregnant, but her bed was right next to mine. I remember screaming in terror, and then something in my neck shifting, and my voice becoming louder and louder." She paused for a second, gathering her thoughts. "She changed me back at that point. She said that my throat had been getting bigger, and that I almost broke my neck."

Harry looked at her with wide eyes. "You mean, I could kill myself just because of a nightmare?"

Tonks nodded. "Yeah. It will stop being a risk after your powers have settled, but until then it would be safer to just share the bed."

Harry nodded. "Especially considering the sort of nightmares I have."

She winced, remembering some of his nightmares from when a large part of the Order had been living in 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry had seen horrors that had broken adults, and had nightmares to match.

"Okay, enough of this depressing stuff!" she said with a grin. "You're safe, know why you need to be safe, and won't go against it. My job is done. Now for the fun stuff."

"Fun stuff?" Harry asked, bemused.

"Yep. You have to choose your name!"

Harry felt horror at those words. "My name? What's wrong with Harry?"

She raised an eyebrow at him before starting to speak in a "public announcer" voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you the winner of this year's _Most Beautiful Hair_ ContestMs.Harry James Potter!"

Harry blushed and looked down. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, it has to be something that you'll like, and something that you can respond to easily. For missions where we play the other sex, us Aurors usually use a variant of our current name. So, James can be turned into Jamie. I have no idea what you can replace Harry with, unless you like the name Harriet." Harry's glare made clear his opinion on that.

They talked about different names for a bit more, before Harry gave up. "Just call me Jamie until we find a good alternative for Harry."

Tonks smiled at her and gave Jamie a quick hug. "Night, Jamie," she whispered, waving a hand and turning the lights off.

"Night, Tonks," Jamie said.

--

Jamie blinked her eyes open, slowly filtering through the thoughts. She groaned as the events of the previous day came to mind. As her mind caught up with the present, she was aware of the pressing need to go to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, she seemed to be pinned down by Tonks. The Auror had her arms around Jamie, and one of her legs wad between Jamie's. As she shifted, Jamie felt a curious sensation, and blushed madly when she realized that Tonks' hand was cupping her breast.

As she shifted and finally broke free, Jamie thought, '_No wonder the girls like it if it feels that good._' The trip to the bathroom was good, even if it was strange to sit down. She'd gotten used to that the previous day. After getting rid of the most pressing concern Jamie went to her trunk and gathered a change of clothes, reminding herself to ask Tonks for a bra until she could get some of her own.

The thought of buying a bra stopped Jamie in her tracks. _'I am so dead.'_

She was in the middle of a shower when the bathroom door opened and Tonks rushed in, naked, planting herself on the toilet with a relieved sigh. A second later, she became aware of the rushing water from the shower. Her head turned in slow motion to take in the surroundings. She blushed when she saw Jamie, frozen in the middle of rinsing her hair.

"Sorry Ha- I mean Jamie. I'm used to having the house to myself and I often go around naked."

"That's okay," Jamie said in a strangled voice before turning her back to Tonks. The movement reminded Tonks that she was naked as well, and she quickly washed her hands and face.

"I'll just go get dressed. Sorry again!" she called as she fled the bathroom.

Jamie quickly finished showering, glad that Tonks wasn't around. Seeing Tonks naked had done something strange to her body. She was used to feeling aroused when she was in her male body , but female arousal was quite different. She groaned when she realized that she'd be around Tonks non-stop. _'How the hell do I keep these images out of my head?'_ she asked herself.

When she got back to the bedroom, Tonks was there, comparing some bras. "Sorry again for earlier, it won't happen again," she said. "Which one do you like?" she asked, holding out two of the bras.

"Erm... either?" she said. Tonks grinned and handed her one.

"Do you know how to put it on?"

"I think so," Jamie said, turning around and taking off her shirt. As she lifted her head to put her hands through the bra straps, she saw that the mirror was straight in front of her, and that Tonks was staring at the mirror with a look that he was having trouble identifying, although it looked familiar. As she caught her eyes, Tonks blushed and left the room with a sad smile.

A few minutes later, Jamie called for Tonks, and with a bit of help, she was dressed and ready for the day. During the elf-made breakfast, Jamie couldn't help but notice the way Tonks was looking at her, although Tonks turned away every time Jamie caught her staring.

Eventually, Jamie had enough. "Tonks, what's wrong?"

Tonks blushed and looked down. "Nothing," she mumbled.

"Cut the crap, Tonks. Something is wrong and you know it. Now, what is it?"

"Nothing. Sorry, I'm not myself this morning. Are you ready to go? We have to get you a few outfits and then you need to go to the Ministry and register your new name and sex. After that we look at your NEWT schedule and then come back here." She took a deep breath. "Do you have another name picked?"

Jamie frowned but decided to drop it until later. "No name, but I think that Jamie Potter would be okay."

Tonks shook her head. "You need to have two names, Jamie."

"Oh."

"Lily," Tonks said suddenly. "When you were male, you middle name came from you father. Lets take the name of your mother for your middle name."

Jamie smiled. "That's a good idea. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Tonks grinned. "Now, hurry and finish so we can get you some clothes and get to the Ministry and out before it's full."

Jamie, glad that Tonks was acting as herself again, did as she was told. Ten minutes later, they were in Diagon Alley, heading for Gringotts. The goblins needed Jamie's new name as well, for their records. After withdrawing a good amount of cash, the duo made their way to Madam Malkin's.

The shopkeeper almost fainted when she saw Jamie. "I saw the paper and all, but didn't realize just how big the change was," she said, pointing to the issue of the _Daily Prophet _that was laying on the counter.

While Jamie was being fitted, Tonks took the paper and read the article out loud.

**Boy-Who-Won Now Girl-Who-Won!**

In a shocking turn of events, the press has found out that Harry James Potter, Defeater of Voldemort and former seventh year at Hogwarts is now a girl **and **a Metamorphmagus.

_"I am not familiar with the magic that has changed Mr. Potter into a girl," Albus Dumbledore said. "We do know that the change is permanent, however."_

_Close friends of Mr. Potter have declared that he initially hated the change, but is getting used to it. Mr. Potter is currently in training to hone his Metamorphmagus abilities. Information about what this training involves is sparse, and the only other Metamorphmagus in Britain is not available for comments._

_How did Mr. Potter change into a girl? Was it intentional? Was it some sort of accidental magic? A prank gone wrong? Hogwarts herself? We at the Daily Prophet will do our best to keep you informed of new developments._

_For a history of Mr. Potter, see pages 2-4._

_For more information on Metamorphmaguses, see page 5._

"Who wrote it?" Jamie asked as Madam Malkin packed the clothing in a bottomless, featherlight bag.

"Doesn't say," Tonks answered. "But it's a definite change in tone compared to last year, isn't it?"

Jamie snorted. "Yeah, that it is." After he had defeated Voldemort, the press had had a few months of thinking that he'd done so to take his place, especially due to the high casualties in the numbers of the Death Eaters. It had petered off, thankfully, and now it seemed they were reporting the truth again, not unfounded speculation.

They left Madam Malkin's and Apparated to the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. The wizard registry was on the same floor as the NEWT committee, so it was easy to visit both in a short time. The little wizard at the wizard registry was very excited to actually have to modify the large book.

"Only changes are when somebody wants to change their name, and there aren't many of those. Marriages and things like that change automatically," he explained as he turned the yellowed pages.

Taking a white quill, he gently dipped it in ink and ran a straight line through Harry James Potter. A prod from his wand made room under it for another line, and there he wrote "Jamie Lily Potter." Next, he encircled both names with a line.

"There," he said. "All done. Ms. Potter, you'll find that all your Ministry-related paperwork now reflects your new name."

"Thank you," Jamie said as they exited the small office and entered the door labeled "OWL/NEWT Examination Committee."

Here, they were simply given a sheet of paper with the schedule and shooed out. After that they went home to get some training done.

"Now, I'm not going to start on the proper training until you're done with the NEWTs, since early training will be exhausting. But, if you really don't want to revise for the exams, I can teach you the basics," Tonks said once they were at her place, sitting next to each other on the couch in the living room.

Jamie nodded. "Well, I doubt revising would help any, except for Potions, and I really am not in the mood for that."

"Lets get started, then!" Tonks said cheerfully, Summoning a mat on the floor and sitting on it. "Sit in front of me, in a position you find comfortable. You can lie down if you want."

Jamie sat cross-legged, facing Tonks.

"Good. Now, first you need to access the magic that makes the change. Take deep breaths, slowly isolating yourself from your senses. Don't go behind your Occlumency shields. Explore your magic, your body. When you are confident that you know every inch of your body, try to change something. Either go for hair length or color, or for fingernails. Don't try to change anything bigger or more important."

Jamie nodded and closed her eyes. The trance was easy enough, and she could feel her magic, the writhing, swirling power, available to her. She felt that something was wrong with it, and managed to identify the changes in her magic that had come with the Metamorph powers. Thankfully, they seemed to be mostly settled now, although several magical pathways had been broken and weren't re-formed yet.

Exploring her body proved to be harder. When she brought an image of her body in her mind, she saw her former body. Eventually, she managed to get an idea of her female body, but she couldn't get further. A growing feeling of discomfort made her snap out of the trance and she opened her eyes.

She saw Tonks in front of her, watching her carefully while chewing on a sandwich. The Auror mutely nodded towards the plate set between them and Jamie took a sandwich for herself, stretching her legs to get the blood flowing again.

A glance at the clock told her it had been six hours, and she gaped at Tonks.

"This sort of trance always takes long. You will get faster at it in time, don't worry."

They talked about the training for a bit more, then had a proper dinner and decided to go to bed. While Tonks was showering Jamie changed in her usual bedclothes and got in bed, waiting for Tonks. She surprised herself by wanting to wake up in the same position as that morning.

As Tonks entered, Jamie forcefully pushed those thoughts away, turning to more important matters. She held the covers up for Tonks, but this time the Auror didn't face her, just moved a foot so they were in contact and whispered "Goodnight."

Jamie frowned for a second before putting an arm over Tonks and drawing her closer. She felt Tonks stiffen slightly at the contact and removed her arm. "Tonks, what is wrong?"

"N-Nothing," Tonks mumbled, but Jamie could clearly hear the break in her voice.

After a second of planning, Jamie grabbed Tonks shoulder and pulled, forcing the woman on her back. At the same time, she lifted her hand, turning on the light but keeping it dim. She propped herself on her elbow and locked eyes with Tonks.

"Tonks, what is wrong?" she asked gently.

Tonks just shook her head, closing her eyes and forcing a tear out. Confused, Jamie brushed that tear away, smiling slightly when Tonks pressed her cheek to her hand. A second later, Tonks' eyes were open and she pulled away slightly.

"Sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes and lifting a hand, turning off the light. The little light that came through the windows found reflection on her cheeks, in the fresh tears.

With a small sigh, Jamie brushed the tears off Tonks face and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but please let me help you. I hate seeing you this way."

Slowly, hesitantly, Tonks' arms came up and wrapped around Jamie as sobs wracked her body. Jamie held her long into the night, whispering soothing words until sleep claimed them both.

--

**A/N: **_I know that the plural is "Metamorphmagi." The Daily Prophet people don't. Same with some grammar rules in the next chapter. Not everybody uses proper grammar, although it's very close. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Changes**

_by malko050987_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter and no profit is made from this._

**A/N: **_Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for betaing this for me. Very much appreciated, Luna. HBP is ignored here. _

**Summary: **_Halloween has never been a regular holiday for Harry. The Halloween in his seventh year is no exception. Harry/Tonks, gender-bending, femslash._

**Warning: **_**Gender-Bending: **__This fic will have a male being turned into a female. If such things are not what you prefer to read, go away now. __**Femslash: **__This fic will feature a femslash relationship, a relationship between two females. Also mentions of slash._

Chapter Three – Confessions and Conclusion 

Tonks woke up slowly, going through her instinctual check. All her senses responded to her. She could feel and move all her limbs. Then came the memories of the previous night, and they shattered her routine.

_'How could I be so stupid? Why, why did I let myself fall for him?' _

The first time she had felt something past friendship towards Harry Potter had been at the beginning of his sixth year, when they had fought alongside against an attack on the Hogwarts Express.

She had taught Defense Against the Dark Arts for that year and had gotten to know Harry quite well, as she was his preferred choice when he felt the need to talk to someone in a position of authority. That, combined with their regular meetings to train and plan DA lessons, had formed a deep friendship between the two.

_'Except you couldn't keep it at that, could you? You just had to fall for him.'_

And now Harry had been permanently changed into a girl. Tonks had been able to deal with her feelings while Harry was male, but now it was much harder. She sighed, wrapping her arms tighter around Jamie's body, smelling her hair. She felt Jamie's arms tighten slightly in her sleep, and smiled briefly before her face fell.

She had dated Remus Lupin for most of Harry's sixth year. It had taken a while to convince the werewolf to date, and she didn't regret it. Remus, on the other hand...

_'Bigot!'_

During one of their talks, Tonks had commented on the attractiveness of the new Muggle Studies Professor, a Squib that was younger than her by a year. Remus, suddenly very serious, had asked her if she had leanings towards relationships with the same sex.

It had been the end of the relationship, as Remus clearly wasn't able to deal with the thought that she was bisexual. They were friendly when they met, although that was rare, thankfully.

Harry had been furious when he'd found out that Remus had ended their relationship. She'd persuaded him to leave the werewolf alone, and that it wasn't worth trying again. Harry still didn't know about the real reason of their breakup. He'd held her then, just as he'd done last night, and spent a few days constantly around her, just keeping her company and helping her get back on her feet.

And she'd fallen in love with him. She kept her feelings to herself and managed to ignore them when she was around Harry. It was best to have his friendship than nothing, she reasoned.

But Harry was gone, and Jamie was here. And Jamie was everything Harry had been, but in a package that Tonks found much, much harder to resist.

Sudden movement snapped her out of her dark thoughts and she opened her eyes. Emerald eyes filled with caring met hers from a few inches away.

Before she was fully awake of what she was doing, Tonks leaned forward and kissed Jamie, whispering "Morning, love."

Ten seconds into the kiss Tonks had dreamed about for the past few months, she realized what she was doing and pulled back, rolling out of bed with a horrified expression. She crawled in the corner of the room, fearing the harsh words she knew were coming. She felt the tears run down her cheeks as she desperately tried to find a way to take back what she'd done.

She flinched as she felt a hand come and rest on her shoulder. When nothing else happened she raised her head and looked at Jamie's eyes. She stiffened nervously when Jamie's other hand began brushing her tears away, although she couldn't resist leaning her cheek to her touch.

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have done that, but I don't know what came over me, and please forgive me, I don't want to lose your friendship, it means too much. Please forgive me, I didn't mean it, I just… I don't know what to do, and I'm sorry, and I hate this, and please don't hate me," she babbled among her sobs, griping Jamie's hands with her own, wanting to have at least the memory of the touch before she left.

When Jamie stood and pulled her up, Tonks moved slowly, her eyes not leaving the floor, still braced for the worst. She flinched when she felt Jamie's hand on her chin, lifting her face.

A small spark of hope burst into existence when she saw that there was no disgust on Jamie's face, no hate or anger. Just caring.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up and then we'll sit down and talk," Jamie said gently, leading Tonks toward the bathroom.

Almost afraid to hope, Tonks rushed through her wash, running to the kitchen when she was done. To her immense relief, Jamie was there, setting the plates for breakfast. Honey popped in, snapped her fingers to fill them, and popped out. Jamie motioned for Tonks to take a seat.

They ate in silence, Tonks afraid to say anything and Jamie waiting for Tonks to speak. Once they were done, they pushed their plates away, and Jamie reached over the table, grabbing Tonks' hand and running her fingers over it.

"Tonks?" she said softly.

"I'm sorry," Tonks whispered, eyes locked on their hands. "I'll get another bed and we'll be close enough so that I can reach you quickly in case you have a nightmare. Or if you want, I'll owl Marie and see if she can come and train you."

Jamie sighed. "We'll talk about this later, but don't go making any plans until you've talked with me."

Tonks nodded slowly.

Satisfied, Jamie continued. "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about. What happened this morning, Tonks? Why...?" she trailed off.

"I'm sorry," the Auror said slowly. "I promise I won't do it again, I don't know what came over me."

"Tonks, that's not what I meant. Why did you react like that after you kissed me? A simple apology would have been enough if you thought you were kissing the wrong person."

"Oh." Tonks fell silent for a while before sipping from her tea. After a deep breath, she started speaking. If Jamie hated her after this, she would at least say her piece. "I'm bisexual. It's why Remus broke up with me. I fell in love with you a while ago. I love you. When you were a guy I could just be your friend, but now..." She shrugged, meeting her eyes. It was obvious that Jamie was thinking about it, and Tonks took it as a good sign when she didn't withdraw her hands.

"In the Wizarding world, relationships between the same sex are almost taboo. There aren't that many of us, and it's an unofficial rule that everybody has to have a family, with one or two children. Same-sex couples can't have babies, so people don't like it when it happens."

"Oh. So you were afraid that I would react badly to it?"

Tonks nodded. "All the people who know about it have yelled at me about it, even Remus."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you have nothing to be sorry about, Jamie. It's me and my bloody heart that ruined it."

Jamie snorted. Suddenly serious, she stood and dragged Tonks after her to the bedroom. She sat on the bed and patted a place in front of her. Once Tonks was seated, she took a deep breath.

"I've only been a girl for a couple of days, but you've been my friend for years. You stood next to me when the going was bad, and we enjoyed some good times together. I care about you. I don't know if that can turn into love. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. What I do know is that I enjoy being around you, and waking up in your arms.

"If you're willing, we can give this a chance. If not, I hope you still want to train me, because I trust you, but I can't say the same about the other Metamorphs."

Tonks gasped and threw herself at Jamie, wrapping her arms around the younger girl. "Thank you, yes." Hesitantly, she met Jamie's eyes and leant in, their lips meeting halfway. The kiss was much better than she'd dreamed it would be, and much, much better than the one in the morning.

After a few minutes of snogging, they came up for air and fixed their clothing. "Thank you for giving me this chance and not being disgusted in me," Tonks said seriously, holding Jamie's gaze and letting what she was feeling show. Jamie simply hugged her, smiling.

--

The NEWTs passed surprisingly fast. Since she hadn't asked for special revision time, Jamie had two written tests per day and was done by her third day. She knew that she would only get an Acceptable in Potions, if that, but was more confident about her other scores, and knew for certain that she would get an Outstanding on the Defense Against the Dark Arts one. She was far above NEWT level in the subject.

She and Tonks spent a few hours each night snuggling in bed, talking and getting Jamie more used with her new body. Of course, Tonks took the opportunity to introduce Jamie to the more sexual aspects of a woman's body, chuckling at the mutterings of "Ah, so that's why she liked it so much."

She knew all of Harry's previous girlfriends now, and she was friends with three of them. Daphne she had only known while she was a teacher at Hogwarts, but she knew that Harry – or rather, Jamie – was a very good judge of character, so she knew that the girl was a good person.

Nobody had told her explicitly that Daphne had been Harry's mystery Slytherin girlfriend, but it had been enough to hear Hermione mention the Protection Ritual and that Harry had wanted all four of them to help.

Like all druidic rituals, it had _very_ specific requirements. For this one, the chants needed to be sung by four women who had been deflowered by the focus of the ritual, who would then channel the power into a shape protecting the area. There were other requirements, but those were much easier to meet.

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered much. When _The Change_ came, nothing and no one could stop it. It had been just Jamie's rotten luck for it to happen on Halloween. _'And my luck,' _she thought, tightening her grip on Jamie's body.

Today was the start of Jamie's practical exams. She had Potions first, followed by Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Astronomy was not a NEWT subject unless one wanted to make a career in the Department of Mysteries, and they approached people silently, so the NEWT was not taken officially.

Harry had been approached, of course, and offered one of the field worker positions, but he had refused. Unspeakable Field Training was interesting, but Harry wanted something to do on his terms, not at the orders of some Ministry official.

With a yawn, Jamie opened her eyes, blinking away the last vestiges of sleep. "Morning beautiful," Tonks whispered, planting a kiss on Jamie's lips. Jamie held the Auror close, breathing in her scent.

Almost an hour later, they were at the Ministry, in the testing room. Tonks, as an Auror and Harry's current trainer, had been allowed to witness the proceedings, in case something went wrong with the Metamorph magic.

They had done a few tests, and Jamie had found that she needed a bit of extra concentration and power for most of her spells, but it wasn't a big hurdle to overcome. It would be a relief when her new powers were stable again, and she entered a trance to check the progress every night.

After a hug and a whispered endearment, Jamie walked to the small table with the cauldron and ingredients on it and took the sheet with the instructions. The supervisor was at the edge of the room, watching from afar.

After a deep breath filled with relief, Jamie smiled slightly and began preparing the ingredients for her first Practical NEWT.

That Friday evening, Jamie threw herself on the bed, watching Tonks in amusement as the Auror stumbled into the room. The amused grin turned to confusion as Tonks lifted her wand and dimmed the lights before starting a slow music with another jab of the wand.

"Tonks? Wha-?"

"Shh," Tonks whispered, putting a finger against the younger girl's lips.

Satisfied that Jamie would keep silent, Tonks began to move with the music, her movements slow and seductive in the dim light, making Jamie's mouth go dry. She licked her lips nervously as Tonks stepped closer.

"I am so, so very proud of you, Jamie," Tonks whispered in Jamie's ear, her hot breath sending shivers down Jamie's spine. "I love you, and tonight will be a night you will never forget."

Jamie returned to kiss Tonks pressed to her lips before settling back on the bed at Tonks silent urging.

It was quite a few hours later they fell asleep, neither hearing the silent pop as Honey appeared into the room, covering both of them with a blanket and tidying the room somewhat. "Honey wishes you good sleep," the elf whispered before popping away.

--

Hermione, Dean, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, Neville, Colin, Ginny, Padma as well as several other older students were in the Shrieking Shack, waiting for Harry and Tonks to arrive. It was the Hogsmeade weekend, and from what Harry's – '_Jamie,_' she corrected herself absently – letter had said, she and Tonks would meet them there.

There had been an Article in the prophet, elaborating on the first one, also having the picture that Jamie had unwillingly posed for. The public's reaction was relatively small. After all, it was Harry James Potter they were talking about. Hermione was fully aware that Harry's magical potential was far above Dumbledore's, and she suspected that Dumbledore was more powerful than Merlin had been. Of course, given the lack of data from Merlin's period, all she had were speculation, and few people were aware of them.

After all his accomplishments, nothing was thought to be impossible for the "Boy-Who-Lived," or, as the press was calling him now "Girl-Who-Won."

In simpler terms, Jamie had gone from Most Eligible Bachelor and Richest Wizard in Britain to Prettiest Witch of the Century and Richest Witch in Britain.

Her musings were interrupted by the almost inaudible pops of two people Apparating in front of her.

"Hey, Hermione," Jamie said, hugging her friend. Hermione returned the hug, slightly taken aback at how _comfortable_ Jamie seemed in her new body. Last time she'd seen Jamie, the girl had been resigned, but not comfortable.

"Harry!" the others called.

The group settled down for gossip and catching up, only separating in late afternoon, when the students had to return to Hogwarts.

Life continued that way for a while. Jamie and Tonks trained her Metamorphmagus powers, meeting their friends on the Hogsmeade weekends. Jamie was getting very good at controlling her powers, and, two weeks before Christmas, Tonks announced that Jamie was now good enough to avoid involuntary changes. Of course, they had no intention of changing their sleeping arrangements.

Jamie finally allowed herself to relax a bit and hope that her life would approach a bit of normality – as much as was possible in a world where magic existed and Fate had it in for you.

Of course, she should have known it wouldn't last. Christmas morning carried with it a Daily Prophet.

Taking up the front page was a picture of Jamie and Tonks, kissing. They both recognized the place and time – the morning of one of the Hogsmeade weekends – and Tonks sighed dejectedly.

"I'm sorry for ruining your life, Jamie," she said, letting the paper fall from her hands. She left the kitchen slowly, curling in bed and drawing the covers over her head.

A moment later, she felt a warm body slip into bed next to her, and slim arms wrapped around her. "Sorry," she mumbled against Jamie's shoulder.

The article next to the picture had been short, but the attitude was clear. For a person in Jamie's position, the idea of a relationship with a girl was inconceivable. _Somebody of her power has a duty to the country to have children, powerful children._

"Shh," Jamie said. "If they don't like it, we'll just go away."

Tonks sighed at that. Her job was gone now, as were all possibilities of getting a job in Britain. Maybe going away was a good idea. '_I wonder what Remus thinks?_' she thought with some grim amusement.

"Honey?" Jamie called. "Could you please direct all owls to the kitchen and leave their mail there? Destroy all Howlers, please."

"Honey will do so, Mistress Jamie," the elf said, popping away.

"Rest, love," Jamie said. "We'll deal with this later. We're safe here."

--

_Dear Jamie and Tonks_

_I'm happy for you two, really. I wish you could have told me before, but I understand why you didn't. If you need help with anything, know that Ron and me will help you._

_**Yeah mate, we'll help you. Just... don't do anything where I can see you, okay? **__**It would be too ruddy weird. **_

_Your friends,_

_Hermione and Ron_

_**PS: You might want to look for an owl from Bill**_ _Dear Jamie_

_Hermione said to owl you and assure you __that we're okay w__ith your new relationship. Of course, not that I didn't know it. Besides, can you imagine me being not okay with it, considering who I used to date? I am NOT that big a hypocrite. _

_Me and Ron have contacted Bill, you might receive and owl from him soon. Please, consider what he has to say. I can't tell you more about it, sorry. Not my secrets and all that._

_If you plan on leaving Britain, the way Hermione seems to think (really, I don't think you can remain here, unless you want to stay inside all the time, or never show your real faces again) could you arrange a meeting with me and Neville (and some others, of course) so we can have a group picture? Colin is perfectly willing to take a picture, although he was a bit disappointed that he'll never get to see "Harry."_

_You've been the best friend, boyfriend and hero that I could ever wish for, Jamie. I know that you'll be able to get past this, just as you went through six years of battles. In case we never get to meet, give Tonks my love._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

--

Most of the letters from their friends were in the same vein, although some were more reserved. Remus' letter was patronizing to Harry, claiming that he "understood" that with his recent change, Harry was attracted to girls, and nasty to Tonks, accusing her of taking advantage of Harry's hormones.

Their reply was a small aconite plant. It wouldn't hurt Remus, just give him a bad case of sneezing. Well, unless he was stupid enough to eat it.

"I wonder what Bill wants with us," Jamie mused as they cuddled in bed that evening, both tired from their practicing.

"I don't know, but from the tone of Ginny's letter, he might help us somehow."

They got their answer the following morning.

_Harry and Tonks,_

_I have a proposition for you. But we'd have to meet in person, since it would take too much parchment to explain it by owl, and I hate writing. _

_Can you meet us at the Burrow, this evening? The family will meet you there as well. If you have another location, let me know. If you don't reply, we'll wait for you at the Burrow._

_Bill_

The duo exchanged glances.

"Couldn't hurt to go, I guess," Tonks said.

Jamie nodded. It would be their chance to meet up with most of their friends before leaving Britain.

--

Later that evening, Jamie and Tonks followed Bill and Fleur on a walk on the Burrow grounds. Their reception had been happy, despite the older people not agreeing with their relationship. Eventually, after a few hours of chatting, Bill and Fleur had called the new couple outside.

"What's up, Bill?" Jamie asked when they stopped.

Bill sat down on the grass, Fleur joining him. Jamie and Tonks sat down facing them.

"As you know, me and Fleur work for Gringotts," Bill explained.

"As cursebreakers, yes," Tonks said, nodding.

Bill closed his eyes for a few moments, gathering his thoughts. "Cursebreakers are... they're a special breed of people. Almost all of us are people unable to work in the normal world, due to quirks, preferences, appearance or other things," he explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Many of ze cursebreakers are gay or bisexual," Fleur said. "Some of them prefer the company of animals to people. Zere is one who spends her time Polyjuiced as a half-cat being. Nobody remembers how her human face looks like."

At Jamie's and Tonks wide-eyed looks, Fleur hastily added, "She is the best at getting out of traps, and some of the feline agility carries over."

"Of course, can you imagine any of them trying to make a life here?" Bill asked, waving a hand to indicate their surroundings.

Jamie and Tonks nodded. The Wizarding world would be scandalized. "What does this have to do with us?"

Bill shrugged. "Just wanted to tell you of the possibility. If you want, you can go to Egypt and the Gringotts branch there will hire you after a test. Then you have some field training, under the tutelage of another cursebreaking team, probably us, and then you'll be full cursebreakers."

"Ze pay is very good, and ze work is fun," Fleur added.

"You don't have to answer now," Bill said when Jamie opened her mouth. "Spend some time, think about it. You're both capable of the work, and I know that you at least, Jamie, can become the best there is."

"We'll do it," Tonks said, smiling happily for the first time since the article. Next to her, Jamie nodded.

Bill and Fleur smiled.

--

One week later, a Portkey deposited two couples in the Egypt branch of Gringotts.

_Fin_


End file.
